Intrauterine Insemination: Increasing Odds of Success

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) or artificial insemination is often the first step in infertility treatment or for single moms or lesbian couples. What can you do to increase the odds that you will get pregnant from an IUI? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education and support nonprofit, interviews Dr. Marcy Maguire, reproductive endocrinologist at RMA New Jersey and clinical professor of reproductive endocrinology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

IUI can be used as part of infertility treatment and by single women and lesbian couple using donor sperm. We’ll be talking about all of these on today’s show.

Carolyn: My husband and I haven’t been able to get pregnant and we’ve been trying for 2.5 years. I’m now 33 and he’s 38. They haven’t been able to find a reason for us not getting pregnant. We look perfect, which is kind of weird. Do we automatically start with IUI?

What type of diagnosis is most often helped with IUI vs. IVF.

I’m a single mom to be and will be trying to get pregnant with donor sperm probably at the beginning of next year. Is it better for me to have the artificial insemination done in the uterus or cervix?

Shana: My wife and I will be using donor sperm to start our family. What does the research show on if we are more likely to get pregnant with IUI vs. ICI. Is there a significant difference in cost? We would also really like to do a home insemination, but don’t want to if our odds of success are lower.

Un-medicated vs. medicated IUI cycles.

Oral meds vs. injectable medication or HSG IUI.

How do we define success when talking about IUIs? The risk of multiples and how to avoid.

How to monitor an IUI cycle with injectable gonadotropins in order to avoid higher order multiples.

If a woman produces too many eggs to do a safe IUI is it possible to switch to an IVF cycle?

Is it even possible to do a medicated IUI cycle with low enough odds of multiples.

Why some insurance companies require a certain number of IUI cycles before beginning IVF and is that still the best approach.

Should you abstain from sex before the man gives a sperm specimen for an IUI or artificial insemination?

Foods that will increase success of getting pregnant with an IUI?

Specific lifestyle choices that will increase success?

Are supplements effective at helping you get pregnant with artificial insemination?

Should you start taking a prenatal vitamins with good amount of folic acid when you are trying to get pregnant?

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